


Deal

by Caivu



Category: Batman (Comics), Batwoman (Comic), DCU, DCU (Comics), Detective Comics (Comics), The Question (Comics)
Genre: Boxing & Fisticuffs, Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Continuity Nods, F/F, Fanart, Fist Fights, Gap Filler, Illustrations, Some Fluff, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24150307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caivu/pseuds/Caivu
Summary: Renee fights in a charity boxing match, and Kate is her coach. Occurs afterBatwoman: Queen of Phantomsand beforeBlack Mask: Year of the Villain.
Relationships: Kate Kane/Renee Montoya
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Deal

Kate Kane ducked into Renee Montoya's corner, feeling a swell of pride which seemed to match that of the cheers filling Dixon Center. The first round of the women's welterweight bout had just ended, a round in which Renee had bullied her larger opponent from the Gotham Fire Department all around the ring.

 _Nice to actually get to see her kick some ass_ , Kate thought.

Renee had been training more than two months for tonight's Guns N' Hoses charity event, having been talked into it by her brother Benny, a three-time champion. He had convinced Renee how great it would be to have winners from both the fire department and the police in one family. And besides, was she really going to let her little brother have something to rub her face in?

She had told Kate about it shortly after their rekindling, and over the past three weeks Kate had helped sharpen her up with additional drills and sparring before and after work. They had never had a project together as a couple, and their makeshift fight camp had turned out to be an excellent way for them to bond more than they ever had before.

And it had been a good way for them to get their minds off Tahani, and the havoc she'd recently tried to wreak against them both.

\----

They had discussed her, of course, after all that mess was done. There was _much_ to discuss. But the conversation always circled back to the ruthlessness of Tahani's methods. Even now, Kate still had no idea if Tahani had truly meant to kill Renee that night... but Renee was convinced of it, and to this day hesitated to spend time at her apartment alone. Something clearly had to change.

Renee had broached the topic in full during breakfast before their first workout.

"Listen... I don't want this training thing to stop," she said. "With the match, I mean."

Kate raised an eyebrow over her coffee mug. "Just martial arts, right?" She'd hoped Renee didn't want to drop her current career and start being a vigilante. She _already_ fought crime, after all.

"Right," Renee said. "I'm not..." She trailed off, looking frustrated for the right words. "I want to be better prepared in case... in case it happens again. Whatever I've got now just... isn't enough."

They'd both known what "it" meant, and Kate had known better than to try and reassure her such a thing wouldn't happen again. This was Gotham; of course it could.

Kate cupped Renee's hands in her own. "I'll be hard on you. Even harder than this camp's gonna be."

Renee managed a small smirk. "I think we both know how I feel about _that_."

That had been worth a chuckle.

"But I mean it, Kate," Renee continued, growing serious once more. "I want to be able to handle myself against the sorts of things _you're_ used to facing. It's not fair to have you save my ass whenever I'm in danger. I mean, hell, you were literally _in Europe_ last time."

She had been right, and there would've been no use arguing even if Kate had wanted to.

Kate leaned in close. "Tell you what. Let's focus on the boxing stuff for right now. That alone will net you a bunch of improvements. Then, bright and early the morning after you win your belt, we'll hit this other thing head-on."

Renee smiled and touched her forehead to Kate's. "I'll be there," she said.

\----

Kate returned from her reverie, still halfway through the ring ropes. It was as if she hadn't gone away at all.

 _Focus_ , she thought. Right now, the only thing that mattered was making sure Renee got a belt.

And so far, that was looking very likely.

Kate glimpsed the firefighter: her corner man was pressing a towel on her face to soak up her leaking nose, and her posture on the stool was one of dejection. Renee, however, leaned tall against her blue corner post with her arms across the top ropes, panting but confident. It was an easy psychological trick, one Kate had learned during her own time as a boxer at West Point. But effective.

Renee's expression brightened when Kate stopped in front of her, and Kate couldn't help but smile as well.

"You've got this, babe," Kate said, prying Renee's mouth guard from her gums. She could feel her voice starting to fade from all the shouting she'd been doing. "You see her right now? Sitting after two minutes?"

"Weak," Renee breathed, sweat beaded on her face.

"Damn right she's weak," Kate said. Anything to keep Renee pumped up. "Just do exactly what you did last round," she continued. "Constant pressure. You can end it here. How you feeling?"

Renee grinned again. "Fuckin' _great_ , Coach."

"You should be, 'cause you're _doin'_ fuckin' great." Kate held a water bottle to Renee's mouth, and then a bucket for her to spit in. "But I want to see more angles in your combos. Move around as you throw. This is your chance to use that in a real fight, so take it."

That had been one of the biggest hurdles Kate had seen during their sparring; Renee had a tendency to plant when she punched. She could block and slip perfectly well, but dodging while striking was still a bit of a hole in her fighting repertoire that she needed to improve.

And Kate had no doubt she would.

Renee spit into the bucket. "She reaches when she jabs. I could sidestep after countering and nail her on the right."

"Go for it, if you see that opening," Kate said, nodding. "Just don't be reckless."

"Right."

THOK THOK THOK! The timekeeper struck a woodblock to indicate ten seconds before the second round.

Kate fit Renee's mouth guard back in and cupped her jaw in one hand, looking her dead in the eyes.

"I am _so_ proud of you, lady," she said. "Kick her ass." Renee nodded, and Kate gave one of her firm shoulders a squeeze as she ducked back out, sidestepping a photographer from one of the local papers.

The bell rang just as she took a seat, offset from Renee's corner and at a 45-degree angle to the ring. Renee came out with no waver in her confidence, but still kept her guard good and tight. She stepped in close to throw a pair of body hooks.

"Nice!" Kate shouted. "Cut her down!"

The firefighter pushed her back and tried to respond, reaching even more than usual with a long jab, but Renee slipped and smashed her square on the nose with an overhand left. Keeping her momentum, Renee pivoted on her left foot. Her opponent was now perpendicular to her, still carried by her own punch, and Renee hit her clean on the jaw with a right cross.

"Yeah, Ren! Just like that!"

The firefighter stumbled, and Renee practically pounced on her. A jab drove her into the ropes, and then Renee began to tee off on her head. Hooks and uppercuts, crosses and jabs. The firefighter managed to catch Renee on the jaw with a hook of her own, but Renee opened her up again with a cross. Now bleeding once more, the firefighter covered up, which only drove Renee to pound away at her body.

"C'mon, finish her!"

A right uppercut to the ribs made the firefighter drop her left. Renee took the opening with an enormous uppercut that leaned her opponent at a diagonal on the ropes.

And that was it. The referee leapt between them and flagged her arms wide.

The crowd erupted, almost drowning out three quick strikes of the bell. Kate's own roar of joy was lost even to her as she sprang out of her chair, lightheaded.

Renee soaked in the cheers with both fists in the air, her white mouth guard giving her an exaggerated grin. Kate nearly tackled her in a bear hug before she'd made a full turn, and lifted her up to spin her the rest of the way.

They kissed once Renee's feet were back on the canvas, her gloved hands draped over Kate's shoulders. Kate got a flash of familiar nostalgic smells from her own championship years ago: the unique mingle of sweat and blood and leather. It was different now as a coach and spectator rather than as a fighter, but no less sensual. It still involved the woman she loved.

"Out. _Standing_ ," said Kate when they had finished, her voice little more than a croak. She removed Renee's mouth guard again.

"Well hey..." Renee panted, "...I had a good coach."

Kate touched her forehead to the brow of Renee's headgear. "And _I_ had a good student."

For a moment that felt like hours, they simply beamed at each other, letting all the commotion of the stadium wash over them.

Kate broke the silence first. "Bright and early tomorrow," she said.

Renee nodded. "I'll be there."


End file.
